The IEEE NPSS Women in Engineering (WIE) community organized an inspiring and engaging event to foster interest among younger generations in pursuing STEM careers and to give a voice to local female scientists.

The WIE event took place on 3 July 2025 at the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague, Czech Republic. This WIE session was part of the IEEE NPSS Prague EduCom International Summer School (PEISS) held in the same city from June 30^th – July 11^th, 2025.

Both the IEEE NPSS PEISS school and the IEEE WIE Event were organized by the NPSS Educational Committee in collaboration with Prof. Stanislav Pospíšil, Prof. Ivan Štekl, Ing. Jitka Svobodová, and RNDr. Vladimír Vícha, all working at the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics (IEAP) CTU in Prague. Prof.  Pospíšil and his team did an excellent job in preparing the room for the event and related logistics, resulting in an outstanding event.

The WIE event in Prague was open to the public, attracting more than 70 attendees, including the students participating in the IEEE NPSS PEISS School (age range 20-27), as well as students from the CTU (bachelor, master and PhD level) and others interested in the session (general public). It is worth emphasizing that the event was very diverse in terms of knowledge and areas of research, and had a nearly equal attendance of men and women.

Regarding the session, the event was scheduled from 17:00 to 19:00, followed by a reception cocktail sponsored by the NPSS UGSE Initiative. Becuse of the high engagement and number of questions that arose, the event was extended until 19:45 and the reception lasted until 23:00. This demonstrates the interest of hosting such an event as well as the commitment and interest of the present and newest generation in this topic.

The session started with welcoming remarks from Dr. Grossmann (Center for Proton Therapy at PSI, Switzerland and IEEE Senior Member) who summarized the spirit of the event and encouraged the students to support each other. His speech was followed by greetings from Prof. Dr. Ing. Gabriela Achtenová (Vice-Rector for Bachelor and Master Studies of the CTU in Prague) and then by Prof. Cinzia Da Vià (Professor of Physics at the University of Manchester, UK, and Research Professor at Stony Brook University, USA). Prof. Da Vià highlighted the main objectives of the WIE community and the resources available for all its members. Additionally, she introduced the NPSS Climate Change Initiative which was well received by the audience.

Dr. Trang Hoang Thi Kieu (Faculty member at the University of Science under Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City) and Dr. Andrea Gonzalez-Montoro (Postdoctoral Researcher at the institute for Instrumentation in Molecular Imaging (I3M) in Valencia, Spain) provided a nice summary of their research careers as women working in STEM in Vietnam and Spain, respectively. They were very enthusiastic, raised awareness of the IEEE WIE activities, and transmitted the essence of the event to the attendees. After the session, many students approached them with questions related to the academic path and research opportunities. Both Dr. Hoang and Dr. Gonzalez-Montoro are members of the IEEE WIE community and helped in the organization of this event. Moreover, Dr. Hoang is organizing a WIE event in Ho Chi Minh City which will take place in August 2025.

The WIE event also counted on the impressive testimonies of local internationally renowned scientists who ranged from senior scientists to MSc. Students:

• Dr. Cristina Oancea: Medical physicist specializing in radiation detector development and applications in particle therapy, dosimetry, and space radiation. She pursued her PhD in Medical Physics through an international collaboration between the University of Bucharest, the NPI CAS, and the JINR. In her talk she provided useful advice regarding work-life balance with special emphasis for motherhood.
• MSc. Catalina Lesmes Ramírez: MSc in Applied Mathematics and a BSc in Mathematical Engineering from Universidad EAFIT in Medellín, Colombia. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Nuclear Engineering at the CTU in Prague, Czech Republic. She related her path from Colombia to Czech Republic, highlighting the relevance of having a strong network and people who support you.
• Dr. Maria Slavíčková:  PhD at the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering of the CTU in Prague. Her research is specialized in the areas of neutrino physics and experimental particle physics. She demonstrated the importance of multidisciplinary teams and the difficulties that had to overcome to accomplish her goals.
• Eng. Eliška Soharova: Head of the Research Department at ADVACAM s.r.o. She studied biomedical engineering at the CTU in Prague and started her scientific career due to her passion for radiology and imaging methods. Her words explained how different career paths (academy and industry) tend to converge to the same objective: advancing science.

Last but not least, at the closing of the event, the audience were delighted with a musical duet composed by Žofie Vokálková (Flute) and Jan Šrámek (Violist). Žofie is considered one of the most outstanding Czech flutists of her generation. And Jan is an experienced violist who stands out for his sense of detail and depth of expression. The two musicians played some classical music from the audience, which created a nice atmosphere for the reception cocktail while demonstrating with their participation that initiatives like the IEEE WIE events are of interest for scientist but also for the society in general.

A musical duet with Žofie and Jan was a highlight of the closing ceremony of the WIE Event

The 2025 IEEE WIE event in Prague was very nice and motivating. This session is only the beginning of a long journey. Different questions arose during the get together event sponsored by the NPSS UGSE Initiative. The feedback will allow us to enhance the quality of future events and to provide tailored support to the ones who need it.

Summarizing, the 2025 IEEE NPSS PEISS school provided an excellent opportunity to the IEEE WIE community by hosting this event. This allows us to motivate and support the newer generations to pursue their careers in our field. Thank you to all the volunteers who made this event possible and to everyone who participated!

Andrea Gonzalez-Montoro can be reached by E-mail at [email protected]